Ciao Italia!
Tomorrow is the day, the day came faster than I expected, I am leaving Italy and will return to London.
What am I going to miss the most?
Probably those mornings and afternoons when you just sit in a coffee shop and you relax for 10 minutes in the sun. The good coffee that costs only €1. The people around who may be more expressive, but are not noisy, are not yelling on their phones but rather read newspaper or sit and talk face to face to their friends. The culture you can see in every corner. The feeling when you need to stop for a second every day and realise “Oh dear, I am in Italy.” The gorgeous sunshine that gives you energy for everything. The blue sky without a cloud. Having drinks at 18.00 during aperitivo hours. Fresh pastry for breakfast. Smell of small bookshops. Incredibly well dressed older and younger women. Older Italians talking about politics. Young Italians that know more about history than some teachers of history at high schools and are able to speak about it with so much passion. I will miss Italian people and Italian language in every corner.
Of course this journey was a bumpy one with adjusting to their way of life, swearing when things did not work, laughing when trains were not on time and you did not have idea when they would arrive if ever, closed shops in the middle of the day when you want to do shopping.
What did I learn? That life can be easier, that you can eat whatever you want if you walk a little bit more and have reasonable portions, that every day is a blessing and we need to cherish it, that we need to live for this moment and not for what is going to happen in a week, month or a year.
What did it give to me? I finally know the answer to the question “Why do you study Italian, why do you want to speak the language that is not so much used in the world?” Because I want to learn from Italians, the art of music, food, the art of life and there is no other way how to learn these things if you don’t know their language, culture and traditions. Because Italy is so different, from German speaking Alps, to industrial Milan, arty Florence, central Italy full of treasures that need to be explored, Rome that was not built in a day but you must see it (sometimes in a day), to Naples that are a different world, to South that is cultural, different but even more beautiful. I have not seen it all yet but I cannot wait till I can come again to “my” country, the country I loved before I could explain why, the country that will at some point hopefully be my home. Ti voglio bene Italia!
Michaela
